Ta-Da: Jack Frost, Best Actor Winner in the Oscars for Perennials

Written on February 24, 2012 at 2:52 pm
By Rebecca Christian

 

Photos Courtesy of  Walters Gardens

 

In the world of flowers, the Perennial Plant of the Year Award is the equivalent of an Oscar. The Perennial Plant Association this year conferred its highest honor upon Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ because it’s easy to grow, works in a wide range of climate types, thrives on benign neglect, and “exhibits multi-season interest.” I like it because from mid to late spring it blooms blue, a coveted color in the garden because many blue plants, like the aristocratic delphinium, tend to be fickle.  (Father, forgive me, for I know thy flora is resplendent without my paltry human assistance, but I cannot keep myself from doctoring my hydrangeas to bloom blue with aluminum sulfate and, following ancient wisdom, burying rusty nails in thy good earth which surrounds them.)

 

 

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost,’ 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year

Brunnera macrophylla has several fancy names, including Siberian bugloss and heartleaf brunnera (because of the heart-shaped leaves), but grandmothers like me call it  false forget-me-not. Jack Frost thrives in shade but can abide morning sun if the soil is moist. Even when it stops blooming, it has pretty silvery leaves with emerald green veins (below). Their cool look is refreshing on a blistering day.

Jack Frost is a versatile fellow who performs equally well along the front of a shade border, solo in a container, or as part of an ensemble with other ground cover perennials, such as hostas, ferns, and epimediums (which sound distressingly anatomical, so I call them by their common name, bishop’s hat.) Below, Jack is shown playing courteously with others.

Finally, Jack Frost has leaves that are rough in texture, which discourages (though does not eliminate) nibblage by deer.  It grows about 12 to 15 inches high and spreads to 20 wide. It does not do well in places that are very hot and dry. The popular plant is easy to find on the internet and in stores.

Beyond the Tiki Torch (Trends in Outdoor Living, Especially Lighting)

Written on February 17, 2012 at 5:08 pm
By Rebecca Christian

Last week I chatted with Larry Spada of Outdoor Living Brands about trends. With everybody suffering from frugality fatigue, people are investing in their outdoor spaces again for one of two reasons: making their home more enjoyable if they plan to stay in it, or making it more attractive to sell. (In sales shorthand, that’s the “love it or list it” phenomenon.) Spada sees landscaping on the most wanted list of homeowner improvements, with lighting a high  priority.  “We are illuminating a lot of facades for night drivebys of houses that are on the market,” he says. Here’s a Before & After.

 

People are also getting rid of their antiquated coachlights with flame bulbs (which are to the exteriors world what shag rugs and avocado appliances are to the world of interiors). They’re also converting to LED and choosing looks that are soft, warm, and low voltage. Homeowners are uplighting trees to add drama, too. Doesn’t this look cozy?

It’s all part of the trend of seeing the outdoors as bona fide living space—outdoor rooms as opposed to a yard that has to be mowed. That might mean adding a propane heater on a rod so you can use your patio longer when the weather cools, or putting a retractable awning over the postage stamp of lawn outside your townhome, so you can be comfortable when the sun is brightest. The awning addition could cost as little as a thousand bucks, while a big dramatic outdoor room could cost $135,000 (more than many homes are worth). How’s this for posh? (It shows the outdoor room with and without lighting).

 

 

Among Spada’s tips on staging for sale are updating exterior fixtures near doors and walkways and showcasing architectural or landscape features.The Cleavers would be right at home in this All-American scene.

Another trend is that of hardscapes becoming more popular than decks. Natural stone and pavers are growing in popularity for their durability and low-maintenance, especially stacked stone. Tranquil, Zen-like water features are sought after too, with many a koi-stocked pond in the south. Here’s a particularly pretty pool.

 

Of course, part of living more outdoors includes cooking and eating; hence the popularity of outdoor kitchens with pizza ovens, refrigerators, trash bins, recycling centers, and multi-use sinks. Fireplaces and fire pits are still hot and smokers, especially, are smokin’.

For more information, go to outdoorlights.com and archadeck.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic Garden Week in Richmond

Written on February 6, 2012 at 3:48 pm
By Rebecca Christian

As the editor who manages garden content for Traditional Home, so much publicity about garden events crosses my desk that I become garden blind. But Richmond’s Historic Garden Week, April 21-28, really caught my eye. What sets it apart is not only its setting in a lovely historic city, but also the beauty of the gardens featured, the quality of the accommodations offered, and the variety of events that make it attractive both to passionate gardeners and casual ones (like indifferent spouses) who are along for the ride. Now in its 79th year, the ambitious event includes home and garden tours by the Garden Club of Virginia.

Some event festivities take place at Maymont, a 100-acre Gilded Age estate that has lovely Japanese and Italian gardens.

Japanese Gardens at Maymont Estate in Virginia

Also on the grounds of Maymont is “Herbs Galore & More,” a marketplace on the estate’s emerald Carriage House Lawn, where vendors sell every herb imaginable as well as annuals, perennials, veggies, trees, garden ornaments and crafts.

During Historic Garden Week, package deals for lodging include one from The Jefferson Hotel that offers a traditional Southern breakfast and a spring floral arrangement to guests.

The Jefferson Hotel Rotunda

Maury Place At Monument Bed & Breakfast is also offering a Garden Week Package. It’s located near Richmond’s shopping and entertainment district, Carytown. 

Richmond’s Shopping District, Carytown

Other sites to visit in the area include Agecroft Hall, a 15-century Tudor-style house with grounds and gardens built in England in the 15th century and transported here, with gardens reflecting England’s Tudor and early Stuart periods.  

Agecroft Gardens

For more information on Historic Garden Week, go to vagardenweek.org

Do you Speak Designese?

Written on January 27, 2012 at 4:19 pm
By Rebecca Christian

Ever notice the way language reflects trends in design? Happily we have retired “bling” and any more we seldom subject readers to alarming interiors described as “eclectic,” where everything from the vase that used to be a chamber pot (quirky) and the bathtub that used to be a cattle trough (whimsical) used to be something else. Now we’re at least “upcycling” those chamber pots!

As a bibliophile, I was pleased when, a few months back, nearly every designer we interviewed used the verb “reads” for the way a design looks. Ie., “With a coffered ceiling and warm paint, the family room reads cozy.” Or, “A casual checked material on the chairs keeps the dining room from reading too stuffy.” And “Because it facilitates conversation, a round table reads friendlier.” (Guess how friendly it reads depends on your family — let’s hope it doesn’t read holding ancient grudges that are aired only at Thanksgiving!)

Museum directors must be pleased with the cache the word “curated” has achieved in the design world, though as an editor whose hall closet could use a tight edit (dog leashes jumbled with orphaned gloves, extension cords, corroded batteries, and a hat that makes me look like Aunt Bea), I like “well-edited” even better: “The home has a traditional shell with interiors that are quiet and well-edited.” No loud interiors, please! We’re trying to write here.

For the last couple of years, we don’t seem to profile designers who are timid with color. They’re all at least “fearless,” if not “obsessed.” A new meaning for OCD: Obsessive Color Disorder. And like the presidential candidates who are always trying to outdo each other’s narratives (raised by wolves or at least by an impoverished single mother), we’ve become fearlessly obsessed with narratives ourselves. One of our recent articles was dubbed “Stories to Tell.” My guess is that fearless color may be going the way of bling: lately we’re hearing a lot about subtle, nuanced, hushed and whispering colors, bringing to mind a martini made with gin while the word vermouth is only whispered in the next room.

Meanwhile “bespoke,” meaning custom-made, is being badly abused by the makers of mass-produced goods who claim their pressboard desks have bespoke details. At least they’re finally giving “iconic” a rest — if everything is bespoke or iconic, nothing is.

And who is the party responsible for starting this “loves, loves, loves” thing? I’d like a word, word, word with them. I for one love, love, love my grandbabies but I only love, love my living room, kinda like my bedroom, and actually hate, hate, hate my kitchen. Maybe I’d like it better if it had “rock-star chic,” “rock-star glamour,” or at least a whiff of “edginess.” I wonder what rock stars say when they want to describe something glamorous? I’m willing to bet it’s not “magazine editor-chic.” I think the person who came up with “loves, loves, loves” was also the first to ask “Isn’t that fabulous?”

Gosh, this reads edgy. Maybe I should curate myself!

 

Eloise Would Have Loved This Madcap Powder Room

Written on January 16, 2012 at 4:04 pm
By Rebecca Christian

Monkeys swinging from chandeliers and scarlet drapes with gold tassels—the decorating scheme of this powder room is “rawther fancy,” as Eloise, the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel, would put it.  The powder room—in the lovely Long Island home of Traditional Home reader Christina Merrill—has a delightful Eloise connection: Its murals on canvas were painted by Hilary Knight. Thereby hangs both a tail (a monkey’s) and a tale.

 

Powder Room Mural by Hilary Knight

 

Hilary Knight’s name may sound familiar, especially if you were ever a little girl or have ever read stories to one, because Knight is the illustrator of the beloved children’s book series, Eloise, by Kay Thompson. Like all the greats, Knight made it look easy. His fluid, whimsical illustrations—which are so spontaneous-looking you’d swear they were dashed off on a napkin—capture Eloise’s youthful insouciance. They also portray the bemusement of the hotel guests and staff as she confounds her guardians and orders from room service “one roast-beef bone, one raisin, and seven soup spoons.” (I love Eloise because at five, she was Not Pretty but was already a Person.)

 

 

Hilary Knight’s photo from the back over of the first Eloise book

Knight was only 29 when the first Eloise book came out, and the powder room murals, Christina Merrill believes, were painted even before then, probably in the late forties or early fifties. Currently adorning her own home in Long Island, they were originally painted for the powder room of the Manhattan apartment where she lived as a baby. Christina’s father, Joe Buhskin, was a jazz pianist who co-wrote Frank Sinatra’s first hit, “Look At Me Now,” and  played with Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, and other greats. (Go here for his rousing version of “I Love a Piano” — as the song’s lyrics say, he knew a fine way to treat a Steinway: http://bit.ly/zeShOj ). As a young man about town just out of the Navy (where his painting was confined to literally painting ships) Knight frequented clubs where Bushkin played, and the two suave gents became fast friends.

 

 

Joel Bushkin

 

The effervescent quality of the murals captures the nightclubby, martiniesque mood of mid-century Manhattan, where Knight painted them as a gift in the Bushkin apartment in River House on 52nd St., which is still an apartment house. The Bushkin family moved to California when Christina was young, but she met Knight on several occasions. “My three sisters and I loved going to the Plaza, and we were thrilled when he signed our copies of the Eloise books,” she says.

When her parents’ apartment was sold, an adult Christina loved the powder room so much she recreated it in her classic Long Island home, out of what had been a telephone room.  Her friend, interior designer Meg Braff, whose work we have featured in Traditional Home, designed the powder room with Christina’s input—and the artist’s. Christina had restoration specialists painstakingly remove Knight’s canvas murals from the Manhattan apartment and bring them to her Long Island home. She sent a town car to the city to fetch Knight for his input. (Knight was born in 1926 and is very much alive: hilaryknight.com). “I had hired an artist to help, and together they worked out how he wanted it to be. He was so gracious and friendly, and so glad that I had gone the extra mile with the murals,” she says. Designer Braff discovered some vintage Scalamandre gold tassels that look just like the tassels in the mural to tie back the new powder room’s scarlet drapes, a perfect touch for this powder room extraordinaire.

 

 

 

Powder Room Mural by Hilary Knight

 

By the way, Christina was one of the winners of our annual Classic Woman Awards last year for her work as founder of The Bone Marrow Foundation (bonemarrow.corg). She is also the mastermind behind Town Togs, which makes ties for boys and men, with a percentage of profits going to her charity (towntogs.com). The name comes from the idea of dressing up for trips into town, just as she and her sisters did as little girls and just as her three sons do today . Meanwhile, the Eloise legacy lives on at the Plaza, where you can visit the Eloise shop or throw an Eloise birthday party (theplaza.com).

Charming Architectural Birdhouses

Written on January 6, 2012 at 2:41 pm
By Rebecca Christian

Do you remember a They Might Be Giants song, “Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul”? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAbZzdalZh4)

I’ve had that song in my head ever since seeing architectural birdhouses by Home Bazaar. These little beauties are rendered either in an architectural style—like a salt box cottage, a pagoda, an arts and crafts bungalow, and oodles of others—or are inspired by real buildings, like the garden pavilion at Monticello or the Hotel Del Coronado. (‘m especially smitten with the Arts and Crafts bungalow, because it looks a lot like my house.) Some people display them inside or on covered porches, protesting that they’re too pretty to use outside — but they are created for outdoor use.

 

Gramercy Park Birdhouse

 

The birdhouses and birdfeeders are made out of materials like ply-board, kiln-dried hardwood, and poly-resin for the fine details, using non-toxic, water-based outdoor paint with pine or western red cedar shingles for the roof.  Strict birding enthusiast guidelines are used so that birds can nest, multiply and return: the back comes off so the interior can be easily cleaned.

 

San Francisco Rowhouse Birdhouse

 The reason they are made of hardwood is that this makes them cooler inside for the birds, as opposed to birdhouses made of synthetic materials. The also have ventilation and drainage, and can be mounted on a garden pedestal, like a cottage design mounted on a pedestal with Victorian scrollwork.

Because they are made of mostly natural materials, they become weathered. David Silverman, founder of the company, says, “That’s part of the beauty of them. When they start to get old, they  age naturally, and birds can live in them for many years.”

Hobbit House

 

Prices range from $25 to upwards of $300. For more information: http://www.hbbirdhouse.com/default.htm

Need a last-minute gift? Give hope.

Written on December 19, 2011 at 4:43 pm
By Rebecca Christian

If, like me, you’re ahemtysomething, you already have way too much stuff, and so do all of your friends. That’s a good reason to shop the American Red Cross’s holidday gift catalog—compassion fits any recipient and  is always in style (http://bit.ly/vNLkTy) I like the Red Cross because it’s a potent symbol of the American can-do, will-help attitude and because 91 percent of all gifts go directly to helping people in need.

 

Nevaeh Gladney, 10, lies on a cot at the Red Cross Shelter at Belk Activity Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her family lost their home in heavily devastated Alberta, Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa was one of the areas heavily hit by tornadoes this past spring. Photo by American Red Cross

 

Gifts start as low as $18 for three blankets to comfort children who have been struck by disaster. For $25 you can give blankets and movies for platelet donors—the process of donating platelets, which are essential for stopping bleeding, can take a long time. Blankets keep donors’ body temperature up, and movies help pass the time. Other gifts inclulde hot meals for three for $30, a full day of emergency shelter for one person (3 meals, 2 blankets, 1 cot and personal supplies) and for $50, the popular Military Comfort Kit, which gives a wounded solider a phone card, robe, toiletries and MP3 music card.

 

 

Photo by American Red Cross

The Red Cross will give you a free eCard to send to your friend or family member announcing your gift.

 

 

Through the Eyes of a Child

Written on December 14, 2011 at 4:10 pm
By Rebecca Christian

A river of ink has been spilled about the true meaning of Christmas. Call me corny, but I am about to add to it. This is why: My granddaughter, Stella, 7, who is the love of my life and who has Down syndrome, needed to go to the Univeristy of Iowa Hospital, two hours away, last week to see a pediatric specialist. I was babysitting her little brother for the day. Decked out in shocking pink and light-up sneakers, with  her carrot-colored hair braided to a fare thee well and her favorite stuffed doggy in a matching pink carrying case, Stella wasn’t as excited as she usually would be to set forth with her parents.  That was because she was going to see The Doctor, where bad things have been known to happen, and because her brother was going with me to ride the Christmas train at the mall. (Five times, as it turned out. I’m just a gran who can’t say no.)

 

 

No one was hurt, but about an hour out on the interstate, the little family’s compact car was sideswiped by a semi driver who didn’t stop. My son, who gives people the benefit of the doubt and then some, thinks the driver may not have heard the horn or seen the bumper fly off as the car swerved wildly to the shoulder of the road. He was of course frantic about the welfare of his wife and child, and probably the most perilous moment was when he got out of the car on the driver’s side right after the accident to check on Stella. She was startled, but not frightened — and likely more upset by seeing her father so shaken than by the accident itself.

Unlike other drivers who saw them and figured – as I probably would have — that in this day of cell phones, the family could easily summon help, a couple of good Samaritans stopped as in days of old.  Jolly sisters on their way to Christmas shop at the outlet mall a half hour away, they served as witnesses to a trooper. Meanwhile they sheltered Stella and her mother – always calm and steady in a crisis, and in fact any time — in their vehicle as debris swirled around it on this raw and wind-whipped day. They even waited as a tow truck was arranged and then drove the family with them to the mall.  Meanwhile, my son had alerted his sister, who lives nearby, and who drove over with her baby to help with logistics.

They tried to make the doctor’s appointment, scheduled way in advance, but it didn’t work out – the X-rays were in the totaled car. For my son, this looked like the very definition of the day I used to read to him about in Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. (Alexander woke up with gum in his hair, his best friend deserted him, and then there were lima beans for dinner and kissing on TV). His family had come close to catastrophe, more time would elapse before learning more about Stella’s health issue, he had wasted a day off work, and his car – paid for –was toast.

Stella, however, was having a wonderful, marvelous, all good, no bad day. Somehow she got the notion it was somebody’s birthday. Not only did she get to ride in a strange car with two swell new friends and see her baby cousin and aunts on both sides of the family (her mother’s sister came from the other direction to transport the travelers home), but she was also granted a reprieve from The Doctor. By the time they regrouped at a pizza parlor, she was chanting “party!” and singing the Happy Birthday song. May she always treat adversities as adventures and give and receive great kindnesses, thus keeping Christmas forever in her innocent heart.

This article originally appeared in the Telegraph Herald newspaper December 10, 2011.

Timeless Beauty: Two Ambitious NYC Exhibits on The Work and Influence of Duncan Phyfe

Written on December 8, 2011 at 4:43 pm
By Rebecca Christian

I grew up hearing the name “Duncan Phyfe” spoken in a tone of hushed reverence by my grandmother. Almost always clad in a little black dress and pearls and a veiled hat, she loved beautiful things and was crazy about his furniture with its harp and lyre backs and dragon claw feet. The Phyfe mystique endures, as evidenced by two complementary new exhibits about him and his work about to open in NYC this month. One is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s sweeping retrospective, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York, December 20, 2011-May 6, 2012, which will include furniture produced in Scottish immigrant Phyfe’s Fulton Street studio, which once stood on the site of the World Trade Center (http://bit.ly/uqN3YY).

The second exhibit, The World of Duncan Phyfe-The Arts of New York, 1800-1847  is a multimedia exhibit that opens Thursday, December 15, at the Hirschl and Adler Galleries and runs through February 17. Curated by gallery owners Stuart and Elizabeth Feld, it’s comprised of work made by Phyfe and his contemporaries in New York City, and shown alongside the work of other artisans of the time in wood, silver, porcelain, and metal. The show offers an unusual opportunity to buy museum quality work. Hirschl and Adler Galleries co-owner Elizabeth Feld says of the two exhibits, “For someone who loves design, it’s a field day,” says. Here’s an example of an early piece on display at the galleries:

 

 

Attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York
The Ogden Family Work Table, about 1810-15
Satinwood and burl satinwood, partially ebonized, and mahogany, with gilt-brass paw toe caps and castors and drawer pulls, baize writing surface, and mirror plate
31 in. high, 21 ≤ in. wide, 14 π in. deep
Photo by the Helga Photo Studio

Says Feld, “Basically the word ‘Phyfe’ has become a very generic way of saying neoclassical, like Kleenex is a way to describe tissue. His name became the moniker for the aesthetic. Neoclassical keeps reinventing itself. He helped create an indigenous New York form of classicism, and because he was so successful, his name became attached to the style. Our show uses the nearly five-decade span when Phyfe was working in New York (he had emigrated from Scotland before 1800) to take a look at what was happening in the way of design and aesthetics in New York during that period. Phyfe was a tastemaker, and really helped to define the New York ‘brand’ of neoclassicism which developed around him. Our show includes furniture (by Phyfe and some of his direct competitors), porcelain, glass, silver, and lighting all made in New York or abroad for an American clientele. This is an area that our gallery specializes in and has done several other major exhibitions and books on over the years. This was a natural way to expand our outreach on this subject matter to those interested in the era. We are also including fine arts (paintings, prints, works on paper, sculpture) to help paint a portrait of this moment (albeit a long and changing one).”

Here’s a example of a Phyfe table from his middle years:

 

 

 

MIDDLE YEARS
Attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York
Pier Table, about 1817-22
Rosewood, with poplar feet, gilded and painted verde antique, and an unidentified wood, with die-stamped brass inlay inset with rosewood, ormolu mounts, white marble, black-and-gold marble, and mirror plate
36 9/16 in. high, 42 in. wide, 20 π in. deep
Photo by Joshua Nefsky

Phyfe worked for 50 years, and during that time his style evolved, Feld says, from a light early style to a middle period of more florid neoclassicism (the phantasmagorical period my grandmother loved), infusing pieces with gryphons and lions, and ending with a period where he made form-based pieces that were very sculptural — their only added decor was the application of incredible tropical woods as veneers. The two pieces above are from the early and middle years, and the piece below from the late years, show that progression:

LATE CAREER
Attributed to Duncan Phyfe and Sons, New York
Center Table in the Restauration Taste, about 1837-40
Mahogany, with brass hardware and castors, 28 1/8 in. high, 36 in. diameter
Private collection
Photo by Joshua Nefsky

 

The exhibit at the Hirschl and Aldler Galleries is free and open to the public from Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and on Saturdays from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, and by appointment on Mondays at The Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue, 4th Floor (57th Street), New York, NY 10019, 212-535-8810.

 

 

Bid On Great Designer Before and After Items (And It’s For A Great Cause)!

Written on November 28, 2011 at 3:45 pm
By Rebecca Christian

Recently at our Classic Woman Awards luncheon in New York, I had the pleasure of  catching up with designer Jennifer Flanders (whose drop-dead gorgeous Manhattan apartment that she shares with two darling daughters we memorably featured in our magazine: http://bit.ly/tmP5fF).

Jennifer Flanders

 

I was pleased to discover that at our Classic Woman awards program a couple of years ago, Jennifer became so inspired by Classic Woman honoree Susan Fredman’s Designs for Dignity organization in Chicago that she decided to establish the same organization in New York. Designs for Dignity uses pro bono designer services, materials and finishes donated by manufacturers, vendors, clients and showrooms to create beautiful, healing spaces for nonprofits and residences that serve people in need (http://bit.ly/w1l6uS ). Its philosophy is that everyone has the right to live in a home they can be proud of, regardless of financial or social status.

For the New York branch’s project, Jennifer had the clever idea of challenging ten top designers to find old pieces of furniture to redesign, with the idea of auctioning them off at a charity event in New York December 1. (You don’t have to be there to bid on an item; in fact, you can do it online: http://bit.ly/rM2RJC). Here is a chair Jennifer herself redesigned with Amy Statuto.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

Jennifer says, “We felt this was an apropos way to raise funds because part of what Designs for Dignity does is take advantage of all the waste and excess in the design industry. We are using the fundraiser to show ways in which old pieces of furniture can be given new life and re-used rather than thrown away.  We have a wonderful group of designers donating both their time and resources to this event, and we are hopeful that not only will this effort raise funds to help our NY chapter get off the ground, but it will also raise awareness in the NY design community.”

 

Laura Bohn Associates designed the two-drawer chest below:

 

BEFORE

AFTER

The event, a cocktail reception and auction where the upcycled items can be viewed, is Thursday evening, December 1, from 6 to 9 p.m at Newel’s new showroom at 425 E. 53rd St. Tickets are available online for $75 and at the door for $90.  It’s sponsored by VandM, which sells vintage furniture, antiques,  fine art and jewelry from around the world online (vandm.com). Designers represented are Bradley Stephens, Kevin Walz, Laura Bohn Design Associates, Drew McGukin, Christopher Coleman, Etienne Coffinier and Ed Ku of Coffinier Ku Design, Jim Aman and John Meeks, Jennifer Flanders and Amy Statuto, and Doug and Gene Meyer.